2009 Audi A4: You'd Think The Vanity Mirror in an Audi Would Be Unbreakable

:)) How can you possibly brake it?! This is the last thing in a car that, I thought could be broken. 31k miles in a car most people think is one of the most unreliable and you got nothing else broken but sunshade snap. Damn it! And now, because of that little thing, the reliability rating will go down.

Isn't it more accurate to refer to this as a "visor" or "sunvisor" rather than a vanity mirror? The thoughts that come to mind when you talk about broken vanity mirrors are "oh too bad you can't see yourself anymore", whereas the visor being broken is far more dangerous. If you hit a bump it could flop down in front of your face and impede visibility.

I've noticed for a while that the German & English cars don't have the good sun visors that higher end American cars do. Not necessary the quality, (as in this case) but the features. I've just attributed this to their weather. Not as much sun as the majority of the states. A partly cloudy day is a good day. They don't use the term, partly sunny. It's partly cloudy. So that's my 2 cents.

Haha, I love the headline for this post! Funny :)

Our Camry just experienced the same problem recently. It's 12 years old.

Oh my God! All VW/Audi products are built like complete garbage!

or...

given all the other bizarre things that happen to your long-term cars and the fact that nobody admitted to breaking it, just maybe the staff doesn't treat the cars quite as well as people who are actually making the payments.

Same piece broke in our Audi last month. Audi build quality is horrendous. We've had 6 interior trim pieces break in that car in 4 years. The exterior... don't even get me started. Wife loves her Audi but when you add the lack of quality, the poor dealer network, lack of warranty coverage, poor performance and the extreme cost of repairs I can't fathom what the allure is of this brand.

This is such a low hanging fruit...but I won't pick it.

well along with the $17 wiper this will probably be o maybe $200 EXCLUDING parts and labor

If this is one of the few complaints of the car at 30,000+ miles, good for you Audi!

Let's see, my 2002 GMC Envoy at 30,000 Miles:
-Already had a blown head gasket (4,000 miles)
-Radio buttons starting to wear off (near 30,000)
-Area where the seat adjusters are was incredibly loose
-The peg in the center console had broke off, and it would not close properly

**This is when Envoy's were somewhat comparable in price with the current A4.

My 2003 BMW 3-Series at 30,000 Miles:
-Sunroof managed to misalign itself and whenever it would close, you would hear the sound of crumpling paper
-The right blinker had a short, and it would flash 2x as fast as the other

My 2009 Audi A5 3.2 at 20,000 Miles (that's all I had so far):
-Key needed a new battery not too long ago. It warned me, but it was a little too late.
-The little button on the seatbelt that stops the buckle-thing from sliding around fell off. I snapped it back into place.

What I'm trying to say is that all cars have issues like this. Sure it could have fallen off over time, or it could have been someone who didn't understand the mechanism, and tried pulling it down, instead of across.

blueguydotcom:
What trims pieces have managed to fall off of the car, I'm curious.

so which one of the IL staffers broke it and didnt say anything about it?

clips like that don't just 'break,' just like the cargo cover in the GTI. the parts to hold everything together just dont fall apart. someone had to use it incorrectly for it to break. anybody could just as easily break a sunvisor clip in a Toyota or Honda if they are doing something wrong that would cause it to break.

i really do think that alot of these interior trim quality errors that you guys are having are because of your own negligence, not because of anything that the manufacturer could/couldnt do.

blueguydotcom says:

"...the lack of quality, the poor dealer network, lack of warranty coverage, poor performance..."

You're kidding, right? This is in reference to Audi? This sounds more like Hyundai circa 1985. What are you talking about?

Guess that's another reason why Audi's currently just one step above the bottom of the pile in Consumers Reports 2010 reliability survey (VW's average, BTW). Sad.

Could the horrendous labor costs Audi incurs from building their cars make them resort to using cheaper parts?

Btw, Audi's "extended warranty" is apparently offered by a third party insurance company, not Audi itself. Sheesh, at least GM, Ford, Subaru and a few others offer real manufacturer backed extended warranties.

So, someone broke it & hasn't had the courage to own up to it??

Appalling.

@adavis2493 --

1. Headliner button for driver's side overhead light broke (light may be broken too)
2. Center console latch broke
3. Passenger side vanity mirror clip broke
4. Passenger side door lock button rubber coating bubbled and came off
5. Rubber gasket trim around driver's door broke off
6. Rear hatch hanging points break often

That's just the interior.

@anonimo - that's Audi circa 2010! I live in a city of 3+ million people and we have 1 Audi Dealer in this city. 1! From the center of San Diego it's a 15 mile drive to the closest Audi Dealer. The next closest? 27 miles.